Choosing a Concubine
Ever since Lin Yan'an knew about Chen Huanli's existence, Fu Huaiying let him go and asked Chen Huanli to learn martial arts with him, and asked him to disguise himself and follow Lin Yan'an to the training ground.
Because of her, Lin Yan'an's life suddenly became busy. He had to teach Chen Huanli on the one hand, and send people to Jiangzhou to look for her on the other.
The Fu Mansion became even busier because Madam Fu had disappeared.
"Where are the people! Where are the people!"
As soon as Fu Huaiying entered the front yard, she heard Fu Liusong's roar. She knew what was going on, but pretended not to know and walked forward, "Father, what happened?"
Fu Liusong wanted to scold her for being too talkative, but then he thought about how the emperor had grown older in the past two years and had become more and more authoritarian, which had led to the rise of Qiliyuan. As the writer of Qiliyuan, no one in the court dared to offend Fu Huaiying.
Thinking of this, Fu Liusong's expression became even uglier. He just waved his hand and said, "Nothing."
Fu Huaiying raised her eyebrows. "But I heard rumors outside that my mother is missing?"
Fu Liusong was horrified, "What!"
He thought he had kept the matter secret and not a single word leaked out, so how could it have gotten out?
Fu Huaiying turned sideways and looked at his back as he hurried out, curled her lips and said, "Go, go find it."
Da Hu stood beside her and leaned close to her ear, "Girl, did you do this?"
Fu Huaiying reached out and gently tapped her forehead, smiling and saying, "You are smarter than before."
Dahu raised her head proudly. She was not stupid.
After receiving the letter, Fu Liusong naturally did not dare to look for the person in a high-profile manner. He did not dare to delay for a moment and personally took people to look for the person. As long as he found the person, the rumors outside would be shattered.
It was three days later when Fu Huaiying saw Wen Shuangye again. She looked haggard, with many whip marks on her body. Her luxurious clothes had long been replaced with coarse linen clothes. She looked at Fu Huaiying's smiling face with resentment.
"You little bitch! You did it, didn't you!"
When Fu Huairou looked at her mother's appearance, her first reaction was to draw out a knife and rush forward to cut Fu Huaiying's face, but she was stopped by Wen Yuhe who was standing beside her.
"Sister Huairou! Calm down. How could Sister Huaiying do such a thing? She doesn't even dare to kill a chicken, how could she dare to do such a thing?"
Fu Huaiying stood behind Wen Yuhe, met those hateful eyes, and smiled faintly, "Sister, you've wronged me again. Last time the ancestral hall caught fire, it was clearly the cat that kicked over the charcoal basin, yet you barged into my yard and shouted that you wanted to kill me. Today, you did the same thing, and I clearly didn't do anything."
Her two light words made Fu Huairou even more angry. She didn't know where she got the strength from, but she pushed Wen Yuhe away and rushed forward with a knife. Fu Huaiying just turned sideways and let the knife fall on her shoulder.
Taking advantage of the force, Fu Huaiying fell directly down. She raised her hand to cover the wound, and tears in her eyes could not stop flowing.
This was the scene Wen Chuyan saw when he was admitted to the hospital. He immediately had Fu Huairou subdued.
Wen Yuhe got up and helped Fu Huaiying up, "Sister Huaiying, are you okay?"
Fu Huaiying's lips were pale. She shook her head slightly and then fell on him.
"Huaiying!"
"elder sister!"
Wen Yuhe and Wen Chuyan were both outsiders, so it was difficult for them to treat her wounds, so they could only stand at the door and wait.
Da Hu stood aside, watching the court doctor sew up her wound. He raised his hand and placed his arm in front of her pale lips, "Girl, bite me if it hurts."
Fu Huaiying shook her head, "It doesn't hurt."
After the court doctor left, Da Hu sat by the bed and said, "Miss...you could have hidden yourself just now."
"Why are you hiding?"
Before Da Hu could say anything, he heard a knock on the door and had to stand up and open it.
She blocked the doorway and looked at the two men in front of her with a bad face, "General Wen, Master Wen, the girl needs to rest."
Wen Yuhe leaned inside but saw nothing as he was completely blocked by Da Hu.
Wen Chuyan pulled him over and said, "Let Huaiying have a good rest. As for Huairou, I will punish her myself."
Da Hu sneered, turned around and closed the door, almost making Wen Yuhe's nose bleed.
Wen Yuhe touched his nose, looked at the closed door, and sighed.
"Let's go."
Wen Chuyan's face was gloomy. He couldn't let Huairou go on like this. She had been completely spoiled.
Before Fu Huaiying went to court the next day, he heard that Fu Liusong had used family rules and punished the man by making him kneel in the ancestral hall for three days after beating him.
Da Hu looked at her shoulders, still worried, "Miss, you are injured, so why don't you go today?"
Fu Huaiying shook her head, "No, I'm fine."
Because of the Crown Prince's selection of a concubine, Fu Huaiying was summoned to Chongyang Palace upon entering the palace. She bowed, and Emperor Huanyu waved at her, "Take a look, and choose."
Fu Huaiying stepped forward, lowered her eyes, and saw the names at the top of the list. Her expression remained unchanged, and she secretly complained that the emperor seemed not very satisfied with this prince. None of the ladies he selected were daughters of military generals. Most of them were daughters of court officials without real power, and he was not even willing to hide the fact.
"This is the name submitted by the Ministry of Rites. I have previously discussed this with the Minister of Rites. The seal holder has taken leave, so you will still be the one to select the concubines for the ladies who will enter the palace."
Fu Huaiying did not refuse and took on the task.
Emperor Huanyu stood up and patted her shoulder with satisfaction.
Fu Huaiying couldn't help but cry out in pain, but suddenly came to her senses and immediately knelt down, "I have behaved impolitely, Your Majesty, please punish me."
Emperor Huanyu narrowed his eyes, as if he had seen through her tricks, but he still pulled her up and asked, "What's wrong?"
Fu Huaiying didn't dare to say it.
"Even if you don't tell me, my Jinyiwei will tell me."
"Your Majesty, it's not a big deal. I accidentally angered my eldest sister last night, so I got stabbed."
"A little quarrel, is it worth pulling out a knife? Does she know what the crime of murdering an imperial official is?"
Emperor Huanyu waved his hand, and the eunuch beside him immediately stepped forward, "Your Majesty..."
"Pass on my oral order. The daughter of the censor is arrogant and rude. She will be slapped thirty times and confined to her house for one month."
"yes."
Ru Hai immediately went out and went to Fu's house, leaving only the two of them in the hall.
"Are you venting your anger?"
Fu Huaiying raised her eyes and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for helping me vent my anger."
"Perhaps the injury on your shoulder wasn't unavoidable."
"I dare not avoid it."
The emperor stared at her, as if he could see through her skin to the sinister and vicious snake hidden within. After a long time, he suddenly laughed.
"It's not that you don't dare to avoid me, but you want to use this wound to make me issue an imperial decree to punish her. Once I issue the decree, your sister's future marriage will definitely not go smoothly, and even if she wants to enter the government, it will be very difficult."
Fu Huaiying's expression remained unchanged. "Your Majesty, I dare not lie to you. I do harbor this desire. When people are oppressed day after day, they will also develop a desire for revenge."
"If it were me, would you also take revenge?"
This question is very tricky. If you don't answer it correctly, you will lose your head.
Fu Huaiying knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, how can you be compared with me? All the people in the world are your subjects. The whole world belongs to Your Majesty. Even if you want me to die immediately, you can do it."
Emperor Huanyu laughed twice, waved his hand and let her go.
Fu Huaiying bowed and took his leave.
Emperor Huanyu looked at the empty palace door and said softly, "Not at all."
…
The seal holder had been ill for many days and suddenly resigned, saying that she was unable to do the job. She handed over the full power of Qiliyuan to Fu Huaiying.
She sat opposite Fu Huaiying, her smile not reaching her eyes. She looked at her with deep eyes, "Is it you?"
Fu Huaiying poured her a cup of tea and shook her head gently, "It's not me."
"If I withdraw, you can take over immediately. I can see your ambition. I don't blame you. Everyone wants to climb up."
Fu Huaiying still shook her head. "It's not me who will take over the seal. I never do anything I'm not sure of, nor will I do it so obviously. If it were me, with your body, I would only take over after three years."
The palm seal believed her words 90%. He stared at her for a long time before sighing, "No matter who it is, I have to retreat. Otherwise, I am not sure whether I can keep my life."
Fu Huaiying drank a sip of tea and looked at the thin figure walking out. Her voice was as light as the falling rain. "It wasn't me. I just didn't tell you."
She just acquiesced and did not stop the man from drugging her. She didn't know how to stop it, and she didn't have the ability to stop it.
One month later
As soon as Fu Huairou was released from house arrest, she immediately entered the palace to participate in the selection. However, when she saw Fu Huaiying sitting at the top of the Jianjia Palace with a smile on her lips, her face froze.
She was confined to her house for many days and had no idea what was happening outside. Her mother and father quarreled day and night and had no time to care about her.
Fu Huaiying sat in the hall, looking at the booklet handed to her and Fu Huairou who was standing below with an uneasy look on her face. She lowered her eyes and smiled softly, then picked up the pen dipped in cinnabar and gently crossed out her name.
"write……"
The people around her looked at her and called out to her, reminding her that the competition hadn't even started yet, so why had she already marked her name?
"What's up?"
"……without……"
She held the pen and sighed softly. Power is a really good thing. When she was young, she was most afraid of Fu Huairou coming back from the academy. Now, she sat on it and crossed out her future with her own hand.
The maidservant beside him hesitated to speak, and only dared to speak after leaving the hall. "Master Seal, this... marking the names before we even started, isn't that a bit bad? Doesn't it seem like favoritism?"
Fu Huaiying smiled and said, "The name that was crossed out is my eldest sister's. I really can't let her stay. I have to avoid suspicion."
The palace maid suddenly understood, nodded, and admired her a little.
After the final screening, only ten were left. Fu Huaiying closed the list. This final round was not her responsibility, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had to choose personally.
The prince entered the hall and Fu Huaiying stood up and saluted.
"Thank you for your hard work these days. Please stand up. No need to be so polite."
"It is my duty."
Fu Huaiying stood up straight and saw the warmth in the prince's eyes. She understood that the prince was also anxious.
The emperor favors Prince Huan and asks him to interfere in all important government affairs, making it seem like he, the crown prince, is completely useless. If he could get Fu Huaiying's help, his situation would definitely improve.
The prince looked at the remaining ladies, squinted his eyes, and couldn't find Fu Huairou. He asked casually, "Why don't I see Fu Zhibi's sister?"
Fu Huaiying didn't bother to hide it. "I was previously reprimanded by His Majesty and sentenced to a month's house arrest. I thought my reputation was not good and I was not worthy of His Majesty, so I crossed my name out."
The prince stared at her and said, "Fu Zhibi is truly impartial."
"Your Majesty has entrusted me with such an important task, I dare not show partiality."
The prince had originally wanted to marry Fu Huairou and have her work for him. Although the sisters had their disagreements, they were still family. Wasn't Fu Huairou's stance the same as Fu Huaiying's? Unexpectedly, she had no intention of showing partiality.
"Fu Zhibi is upright, no wonder the emperor trusts you so much."
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